Standard & Poor’s raises Cyprus’s rating to BB-, further upgrades possible

By Stelios Orphanides

Standard & Poor’s raised Cyprus’s sovereign rating a notch to BB- citing the removal of capital controls in April and the improvement in the fiscal situation and placed the outlook to positive.

The rating company may further raise the government’s sovereign rating in the next 12 months provided the Cypriot financial system stabilises further by improving the quality of its assets and economic growth is consolidated and affirmed the government’s B rating for its short term foreign and local currency ratings, S&P was said in a statement on its website today.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.